Thursday, March 11, 2010

This whole Rahim Jaffer affair is really perplexing. What seems most likely is that his procedural rights were violated when he was asked to give a breathalyzer and when he was searched for drugs. Police occasionally make mistakes and, whether we like it or not, it happens to be grounds for the dismissal of a lot of charges. For an example of this, see Margaret Trudeau's exoneration on drunk driving charges a few years ago.

So, here is what is perplexing and troubling about this to me. First, why are the Tories not making the most of this to stand up for harsher penalties and for more rectification of rights violations at the time of sentencing, rather than at the time of trial? Second, why are opposition parties, who we should generally think are quite supportive of individual rights and strict protections against violations by the state, willing to take such a frenzied and populist position on this? In other words, why are they willing to ferment doubt about the administration of justice when they'll likely squander whatever short term opportunity it gives them? And why are they doing this when their own general positions on this issue will be undermined if this issue continues?

More generally, why do parties pursue lines of attack in the short term which are not generally consistent with their views and/or with their prior statements, and which may undermine them in the future? For another example, consider how smart it is for an opposition party which started the mission in Afghanistan and which has a leader who has said manipulable things about torture to stake its claims on prisoner transfers in another country by another government.

Suppose you were concerned about whether recently arrived Canadians are sufficiently respectful of individual rights and tolerance. Suppose you wished that they received the strongest signal possible about how much we prize individual liberty in Canada. Wouldn't it be most efficient to flag for them the most recent and, by international standards, far reaching demonstration of this. In other words, wouldn't you want them to know that one of the things we value is the right of consenting adults to do as they please? Apparently not. At some point, this all goes from a bee in a bonnet to something else. That's all.

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About Me

I am an assistant professor of political science at the University of Toronto. I am also crazy about motorcycles.
My academic site is here: http://web.me.com/peej.loewen
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http://cairotothecape.blogspot.com